News for August 1, 1999

Frank Vandenbroucke is back in the Ronde van het Waals Gewest

Ploegsteert is the home of Frank Frank Vandenbroucke and there
were thousands of spectators out in force to give him moral
support in the first kms of the prologue on Friday. Although he
came in at 26th place (0.28 down on winner Marc Streel) VDB
was contented with his performance. He said: "I realise that
while I tried to win with three months out of competition
and only training kms in my legs that no-one could expect to
do better. I dreamed of a win but also know that I am cannot
produce miracles... I am still wanting to be part of cycling.
I have been missing the feeling of racing... This is a good
way to start in my own region. I must not force it though.
I don't want to get the recurring knee pain... Yes, I plan
to race the World Cup events in August to try to defend my
leader's jersey. I am will race the second part of the season
fresh. I plan to ride the Tour of Lombardy and hope to win
the World Cup. I will be riding the Tour of Limousin and the
GP Plouay and I hope that by September my legs will be good
enough to contest the Vuelta. I then am aiming at the Worlds
in Verona. I think I can get into good condition for them.

Uwe Ampler tests positive for testosterone

34-year old German professional Uwe Ampler (34) has tested positive
to testosterone during the Sachsen Rundfahrt. The 1986 World Amateur
Champion returned positive A and B Samples after being tested
in an early stage. He was stripped of his leader's jersey before
the beginning of the first (of two) stages on Saturday.

Andrei Tchmil

Recently, at the Criterium Lisieux in France, 36-year old Andrei Tchmil
decided to go to back his hotel for a coke. The morning after he heard
from Jef Braeckevelt that he was called for a drug test. Tchmil panicked
and called the UCI President Hein Verbruggen for advice. He wanted to go
to the French doctor Aubril (who performed the test) but Aubril had
already left for vacation. In lieu of this he went to the local hospital
to give blood and urine for a test. He is hoping the UCI will accept
his version of the events.

He said: "I did not know anything about the test. I have been preparing
for the second-half of the season while the Tour de France was on.
Of-course, I am not so stupid as to use drugs for the criterium at
Lisieux."

Tchmil decided to cancel all his criteriums in France. He will use the
Omloop van de Waalse Gewesten in Belgium as preparation for the
world cup races.

Contracts and Transfers

- Bobby Julich (Cofidis) will join Crédit Agricole next season.

- Big Mat-Auber 93 have signed Lionel Lorgeou, Cédric Jourdan and
Sébastien Talabardon as stagiares from September 1. The Auger
brothers - Guillaume and Ludovic have extended their contracts.

- Michael Blaudzun (Denmark) will not transfer from Home-Jack and Jones
to US Postal next year despite rumours to the contrary. Peter Meinert
Nielsen will also remain with US Postal.

- Wim van de Meulenhof (current Dutch amateur champion) is talking with
Batavus. Giant-Löwik's Gerben Löwik is also in negotiation with Batavus.

- Cantina Tollo have dispensed with the services of Gabriele Colombo,
Nicola Minali and Bo Hamburger. None have performed up to expectations

Amilcare Tronca dies

On Tuesday, 22-year old Amilcare Tronca died in hospital after sustaining
serious head injuries in an accident on Monday accident. He was in a coma
for a day in hospital before he passed away. Tronca, from the Amica
Chips-Costa de Almeria team, turned professional in 1995 and he won the
Lugano Championship Open in 1996, his only career victory. He was a good
climber. In June, he was 7th in the Italian championships.

Compensation for former professional

A Spanish judge has awarded compensation of $US1 million to former
professional Reimund Dietzen, who 10 years ago fell heavily during
the Vuelta in a badly lit subway. He was at that time riding for
the Spanish team Teka and never recovered to race again. The organisers
of the Vuelta, Unipublic SA, were deemed responsable by the Judge.

Netherlands, Heerlen Profronde, 80 kms, July 30:

There was some doubt whether Lance Armstrong would honour his contract
to race at the Heerlen criterium last Friday given his last-minute
invitation to meet the president of the United States. But apparently
something was worked out. The actual events went like this.
Al Vermeeren of the Stichting Profronde Heerlen, announced Lance Armstrong
would ride in Heerlen for certain. He said that Lance would arrive in
Brussels from the US and stay with Eddy Merckx during the day. He would
then arrive in Heerlen around 19.00. If he had to land somewhere else, the
organiser had arranged for a special plane to pick him up.

The budget for the race was around 120,000 Dutch guilders (55 Euro). 13 Tour
riders were contracted. No contract was offered to Michael Boogerd and Leon
van Bon. Vermeeren said: "The start moneys demanded by Boogerd (20,000
guilders) and Van Bon (10,000 guilders) bore no relation to their performance
in the 1999 Tour de France."

Two local Limburg professionals - Raymond Meijs and Max van Heeswijk were also
not offered contracts - a departure from the usual practice of highlighting
local professionals. Meijs got a stage placing in the Tour some years ago,
but the organisation were not impressed and only want to have big names. The
reason for not selecting Van Heeswijk was not known.

Denmark pulls out of Tour bidding

Denmark is likely to withdraw its candidature to host a start of the
2002 Tour de France because it has decided that the organisation of
cycling is not serious in its fight against drugs. The president of
the Danish committee which was pursuing the option, Niels Nygard said:
"The situation as it stands today is untenable. It is useless putting
everything in place for a Tour stage in Denmark."

.
Mr Nygaard said that this year's Tour did not demonstrate that the
riders or officials had changed their attitudes. "It would take a miracle for
the situation to change significantly between now and 2002."

USA, Canada, Pan-American Games

Erin Hartwell (Indianapolis,
Ind.) won a silver medal in the kilometer time trial, and Dylan Casey
(Mountain View, Calif.) recorded the fastest qualifying time in the
4,000-meter individual pursuit Wednesday in the first day of tack cycling
action at the 1999 Pan American Games at Red River Exhibition Park.

Hartwell, who has won silver medals in his specialty at the past two Pan
American Games, recorded a time of 1:05.347, finishing behind Cuba's Cabrara
Julio Herrera. Hartwell is coming back from knee surgery that has sidelined
him for most for most of the past nine months. He won a bronze medal at the
'98 World Track Cycling Championships in Bordeaux, France and returned to
track cycling earlier this month.

"It was disappointing for me, but I know that I have to start off somewhere,"
said Hartwell, who won a silver medal at the '96 Olympic Games in the
kilometer time trial. "I tried and gave it my all, but my body is going to
take more time to recover than I had hoped. It was a gamble for me to be on
the team, but I am glad I was able to contribute with a medal-winning
performance.

Casey, who finished fourth in Sunday's individual time trial road event,
posted a record time of 4:32.118 and then defeated Brian Walton of Canada in
the semifinal round to advance to Thursday's finals against Walter Perez of
Argentina (the silver medalist at the '95 PAG).

"I felt very comfortable and rode within myself today," said Casey, who rides
for the U.S. Postal Service team and is a teammate of Tour de France winner
Lance Armstrong. "I learn every time I ride on the track, but I feel I am
becoming stronger and more knowledgeable after each race. I do not have a lot
of experience in track cycling, but I am a quick learner.

In the men's sprint, 1995 Pan Am champ Marty Nothstein (Trexlertown, Pa.)
posted the fastest time in the qualifying round and advanced to the second
round, along with teammate Marcelo Arrue (Woodland Hills, Calif.). Nothstein
defeated Arrue, who was representing Chile in those games, in the finals of
the last Pan Am Games.

"I was pleased with my time and performance," said Nothstein, "I wanted to
qualify first and then let the process begin. There are
some talented riders in the field, and I have to make my move on step at a
time."

In the women's competition, Jennie Reed of Kirkland, Wash. posted the second
fastest qualifying time in the sprint event, behind 1998 world bronze
medalist Tanya Dubnicoff, who also won the 500-meter time trial in from of
her hometown fans of Winnipeg. Reed, who lost to Dubnicoff in the bronze
medal race at last year's world championships, also finished fifth in the
500-meter time trial finals.

Action continues Thursday with the men's individual pursuit finals,
quarterfinal action in the men and women's sprints and the preliminary round
of the women's individual pursuit and men's team pursuit. Erin Veenstra
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) represents the United States in the women's
individual pursuit, while the quarter of Tommy Mulkey (Winterville, Ga.),
Derek Bouchard-Hall (Palo Alto, Calif.), Adam Laurent (Shell Beach, Calif.)
and Mariano Fredick (Los Angeles) make their 1999 Pan Am Games debut. Action
starts at 5 p.m.